The Foreign Ministry promised to respond to the expulsion of embassy staff from Romania

Russia will respond to Romania’s decision to reduce the staff of the Russian representative office in Bucharest, RIA Novosti was told in the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“As the Russian side stated earlier, Russia will give an appropriate answer,” said agency.

TASS on the evening of July 1 informedthat 40 employees of the Russian embassy in Bucharest (together with family members – about 80 people) left the territory of Romania. The Russians were taken out by a special flight of the Il-96 aircraft of Rossiya airlines. According to the agency, some embassy employees left the country earlier, the total number of such Russians reaches almost 140.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania informed Ambassador of Russia on the decision to reduce the staff of the Russian representative office in Bucharest on June 8. Then Bucharest demanded that the staff of the embassy be reduced by 21 diplomatic and 30 technical and administrative posts. In fact, due to the incomplete staffing of the diplomatic mission, it was about the expulsion of 11 diplomats and 29 technical staff, that is, about 40 employees of the embassy. The Romanian Foreign Ministry noted that in this way the number of employees of the Russian embassy in Bucharest will be equal to the number of the Romanian representative office in Moscow.

The Romanian side also noted that Moscow itself can decide which of the employees will remain working in Bucharest. If the requirements of Romania are not met, then it will independently revoke the accreditation of the employees it has chosen.